At a recent ASTDNY program, L&D leaders and CLOs met in a midtown executive board room to reveal what it takes for the learning function to become a senior business partner. The surprising tactics shared that evening challenge our traditional beliefs about achieving credibility for the learning function. As it turns out, an invitation to the senior management table is less about proficiency in Adult Learning Theory and more about emotional intelligence, political savvy, and a passion for the business in which your organization is engaged.

The Great Matter, for those who dare to assert a deep impact on the business,   becomes one of a reconciliation of opposites. How do you trade-in the core principals that first attracted you to the field of L&D for a completely different set of values in the corporate suite? Other questions loom as well. Anecdotally, we know that there are senior managers in the HR Talent Management / OD function who did not arrive at their positions through accreditation, but rather through relationships or a deep knowledge of their industry.  If so, how can our L&D professionals distinguish themselves as offering a better product than the lay person who feels that they can achieve the same results intuitively?

Compromise Can Lead to the Greater Good

The Educate vs. Capitulate argument asks us to choose between two targets; pleasing the client or genuine results.  The good news is that there is no need to abandon your workplace values when aiming for the top.  In fact, the tools of our trade are precisely what are needed to succeed in the most challenging of corporate landscapes. Applying the principals of Instructional Design (ID) when persuading internal stakeholders can be the flux that joins the opposites.  This is done by viewing your stakeholders as students with special needs. Or children. Or only speaking French. Opportunity knocks when your students tell you that they need ‘X’ when in reality you know they need ‘Y’. The ID process helps you get to ‘Y’ because it considers the 4 Needs Assessment Quadrants:  Business, Behavior, Learning, and Learner.  When you own the analyses of the quadrants, you become powerful. You will be in a better position than your senior stakeholders to impact the business.

How Far is the Moon?

The technique of getting into the mind of your stakeholders is best illustrated in a story Many Moons by James Thurber. In this tale, a princess falls deathly ill from eating too many raspberry tarts and insists that the only remedy is for the moon to be brought down from the heavens and be given to her. All the wise men of the land could not achieve this as they were daunted by the moon’s distance and size. It was the Court Jester who argued that since it is the perception of the beholder that is crucial, why not ask the princess how far she thinks the moon is and how we are to obtain it?  After a few simple questions it was revealed that the moon is only as big as her thumb and made of gold. She knew this to be true because she was able to obscure the moon by placing her thumb in front of her eyes. When presented with a golden “moon” necklace the princess returned to the peak of health. The next evening the court was in a panic because the moon was once again high up in the night sky. What would the princess think about that?  But even this question was posed to the princess: “How is it possible that the moon is up in the sky when you are wearing it around your neck?” She answered all knowingly that the moon is like a tooth; when you lose it grows back.

Approaching people from their perspective is a door into their soul. Not everything you will find there is wholesome, but you will know how to present your case in a way that it is heard. Once that interface is established you can introduce genuine skill transfer practices that can have an impact with your stakeholders’ support. This technique can be used for interviews, consulting, in the boardroom, at a planning meeting, and any other place where the human element stands in the way of progress.

I leave you with some hard-won advice. Be passionate about your work by being dispassionate for the moment to achieve the greater goal.

Lance Tukell

ASTDNY Welcomes You to 2010 With Our Theme: Manage Your Career Here!

As the economy continues to unfold in unexpected ways, the Learning & Development community reveals itself as the sentinel species and is greatly impacted. Here at ASTDNY, we know the needs of our membership and we are committed to becoming your resource for career advancement in these challenging times. The theme of career management will be present throughout the year in our monthly programs, special interest groups and community volunteer events.  

ASTDNY is uniquely qualified to be your mentor in the field of L&D. Our board of directors is comprised of experts in leadership development, instructional design, facilitation, e-learning, coaching, consulting, and career management from such industry giants as American Express, Moody’s, and Hess.  Our hundreds of chapter members are even more diverse representing all industries both public and private from business to academia, profit and non-profit.  As a whole we offer the community a vast networking platform, provide industry benchmarking, and form a stable environment in which to collaborate with like-minded professionals.  

Our January Retreat

The 11 members of the executive board of ASTDNY met for its yearly retreat on Saturday, January 9^th and spent the day together strategizing how best to serve our community for the next 10 years. This meeting was no ordinary meet and greet. The board members traveled from as far as Connecticut to spend the day fully immersed in strategic planning at Brooklyn’s historic Loralei Bed and Breakfast.  That unique environment allowed us to engage in a ‘Futuring’ activity that yielded 4 possible outcomes for the Learning & Development community over the next 10 years.  I have listed the results here so you can see where our profession may be headed. The board produced long-term plans to address each of the possible outcomes:

Future Outcome 1: Shift from Classroom Training to Virtual Learning.

In this outcome, the L&D community will be faced with learning new technologies that facilitate online learning since classroom training has fallen out of favor. Reasons for the decline of the classroom might be a broader distribution of the population away from urban centers, fear of travel due to terrorism, increase in quality of virtual reality simulations, and a substantial shift in the definition of psychological presence.

Future Outcome 2: Shift to Government Model of Employment

This future scenario suggests that government becomes the major underwriter of training programs due to an overwhelming demand for compliance and regulatory training, an increase in the number of city agencies, and a sharp rise in military and law enforcement training.

In this outcome, the L&D community will be challenged to quickly assimilate local, federal, and international government expertise, as well as domestic and international legal matters.

Future Outcome 3: Shift from Full Time to Temporary Employment

The shift from long-term employment to temporary assignments as a working model is already upon us and all signs point to an increase. The average worker will change organizations every few months and training managers will need to plan for two constituencies; those employees who require training for longer tenure, and those who need to learn quick “assembly line” tasks. In this scenario, the bulk of training will be produced by very nimble and versatile vendors as opposed to legacy-type corporations.

Future Outcome 4: Shift from Ad-hoc Training to Business Partner

The L&D community will welcome this very desirable outcome because it means that training has earned its rightful place at the senior management table as a business partner. Metrics will have been crafted that accurately reflect the training impact. As a result, training organizations will enjoy robust funding from both public and private sources. The elevated status of the learning function will provide an unprecedented interest in industry vertical markets such as healthcare, manufacturing, and agriculture.

My purpose in sharing these possible future outcomes with you is to illustrate that ASTDNY is proactive and versatile in its service to the L&D community. If the last few years are any indication of our need to be ready for anything, then we must create a more robust community of practice by building professional associations of longevity.

Ten years is not so very far away. We will go there together.

Lance Tukell

When ASTDNY asked me to contribute to the chapter’s new blog, I was honored and also a little nervous. As a business developer for a small Training and Development boutique, what could I contribute to this online community? As VP of Lanartco, Inc., linguist, and former teacher, I know about many subjects but what could I write about, in this forum, that others will find interesting, too? A wise person once told me to write what I know. So here goes.

Recently, I came across an article in HBS titled Walking through Jelly: Language Proficiency, Emotions, and Disrupted Collaboration in Global Work. You can find the PDF version o f the article on the HBS website. In this article, Beyene, Hinds, and Cramton discuss the expectation and frequently agreed upon notion that a common language, in this case English used for business purposes, will facilitate communication within organizations, undoubtedly achieving communication excellence at all levels. The authors argue that, this is NOT the case and, may not be as realistic a view as some believe it to be. And, I agree; it takes more than just a common spoken language to raise a village. I think language is a vehicle for communication but it, alone, does not define our day-to-day interactions.

One of the conclusions of this study is that our interpretations of the actions we encounter during the work day are what fuel our emotions, and ultimately, our productivity.  So, as trainers and/or training providers we should collaborate to bring innovative best practices to our clients so that the perceived high cost of failure sometimes associated with language and/or cross-cultural programs morphs into solid client buy-in.

Thanks for reading; I look forward to comments and I really look forward to reading your posts one day.

BLOGGING as a phenomenon is transforming the web into an exciting participatory forum. Still, many of us are not that familiar with blogging, and are not yet regular blog subscribers or contributers.

Blogging is about more than just putting your thoughts down online; it is about connecting with and hearing from anyone with an interest in your topic. The fastest way to understand blogging is to try it out by becoming a regular reader or a contributer to a blog.

Blogging has become popular with many professional communities of practice.  ASTD National has begun its own blog. Check it out at http://tdblog.typepad.com. They have some interesting posts on a  recruiting top talent during the recession, Wal-Mart’s new T&D strategy, and on new technology and social networking, among other posts/comments.

ASTDNY is starting its own blog; with local news and events as well as general T&D information and best practices. Please check this ASTDNY blog often as new information is always being added. Also, if you wish to post something, contact me at Levinee@astdny.org.